Drag
by Kez Ramsey
Summary: A collaboration between myself and Aislin Oriel! What happens when the girls have a day to themselves? Well, the guys have one too, of course! Nakedness, drunkeness and innuendos ensue . . . (Serious Miranda and Shana bashing) Please rr.
1. The Beginning of a Convoluted Adventure

**Drag **

_By Kez Ramsey& Aislin Oriel_

_The girls . . ._

Estell, Ceres, Emille, Miranda and Shana sat regally, trying to see who could best imitate King Albert. Unfortunately, Emille, having most exposure to him won the contest hands down. Once this was unanimously agreed upon, they all went back to their usual style of lounging. Ceres was sprawled over one of the couches in the room all to herself. Miranda, on a chair beside her, had to occasionally swipe away Ceres' legs which she was flailing about in laughter to Shana's impersonation of Ellis. Estell was sitting on the floor, all stretched out in comfort. Emille stood up and motioned for some refreshments to one of her attendants. Five stunningly gorgeous manservants appeared, sweet-smelling drinks in tow. Ceres and Estell pounced on them as they entered the room, claiming five beverages each.

"I gots them! I gots them!" Ceres declared, clutching the glasses to her quite possessively.

Emille looked on in wonder, surely thinking things that are not appropriate to voice when one is royal.

"We were deprived as children." Estell explained, taking a sip of the, what she thought would be wine, but could only be described as, liquid.

"We only got hand-me-downs. No beverages." Ceres made sad puppy-eyes. "Just spit."

Estell would've welled from sheer laughter if she wasn't about to cry from the disflavour of the uh, liquid. She was eyeing her sister to see her reaction once she too took a sip.

Emille couldn't mask her surprise at the sound of seriousness in the explanation of their ravenous behaviour regarding the drinks, "That's . . . terrible. So. . Sad. You poor dears."

Ceres hid her grin by gulping down half of her first beverage. She then immediately deposited it all over Miranda in a furious regurgitation. Estell spit hers back into her cup, having saved it until the inevitable action and began laughing.

Miranda was busy screaming bloody-murder and being disgusted while Ceres glared at Estell and then demanded of the queen, "What the hell is this?"

In a completely refined manner, Emille voiced, "Um . . . it's . . . an acquired taste . . ."

"Yeah, but what did you try to poison us with?" Estell asked after calming down from her laughter episode.

"Do you have any manners about you?" Miranda suddenly piped.

Both Winglies spun around to face her, "Define manners." Estell said.

Miranda ignored the comment, she turned directly to Ceres, "Look what you did to me!" she gestured to the stain all over her front side.

"I think it's a nice improvement to that rugged look of yours, Miranda." Shana quipped.

Estell directed back to Emille, "With all sarcasm aside, what is this?"

"It's non-alcoholic wine made from flower nectar, it's a delicacy of Serdio." the queen replied.

With a mutual glare at the partially consumed drinks, both gave a slight, "Eww."

"Anyways," Shana cut through the moment like she always does.

"It's very . . . expensive . . ." Emille pointed out.

"One glass is worth more than you own, that's for sure." Miranda informed.

"Excuse me," Ceres remarked, "See this," she held her skirt up to show, "this is hand-stitched embroidery." The manservants still in attendance quickly averted their eyes as she hauled off the garment and handed it to her sister. Fortunately, she was wearing shorts underneath.

Estell looked the skirt over, "Well, this doesn't compare to my boots, but I'd wager a few thousand gold. How about you Shana?" she tossed the skirt over to the surprised girl.

"I hate to break it to you, but they're probably right about the value . . ." Shana informed quickly and handed Ceres back her clothing.

"Aw . . . that's depressing . . . These are the most expensive things I own . . . well, kinda the only things I own." Ceres shrugged dejectedly, egging Shana on that her opinion really counted. She began to pull the skirt back on, while adding, "These and that one guy . . ."

"But what's he worth? Dirt?" Estell teased.

"Did you say Dart? I don't think he has a value." Ceres stuck out her tongue.

"I know, he's priceless." Estell said smugly with a toothpaste commercial smile.

"You like . . . Dart?" Emille gasped.

"Dart! Ha! Now, there's a guy with a big nose." Ceres chimed.

"Oh I see . . ." Shana began as she glared over at the two sisters, "I would really like to know just what exactly Estell thinks of Dart."

"Well, I think he's a good kisser. But his need to over-emphasis everything is a little odd." Estell replied casually.

Shana was busy fuming and contemplating pulling her hair out so she didn't share the shocked expressions that everyone else displayed.

"But that's not as odd as Lloyd. '**Over here!**' I mean, c'mon Ceres, what were you thinking?" Estell continued, displaying her most awesome Lloyd-alike. Her sister glared at her evilly, which only made Estell smile wider.

Everyone else was still busy trying to interpret the information that had just been thrown at them in a rush of teasing jabs.

"So you mean to tell us that you two are involved with Dart and Lloyd?" Miranda used her splendid calculating skills to put two and two together.

At the same moment both young women answered,

"Lloyd?" Estell groaned dryly and grimaced, "He's like my brother!"

"No! Dart? Yuck! I wouldn't touch him with a ten-foot pole!" Ceres achieved a painful look to rival that of Estell's.

"Um . . ." Emille cleared her throat.

Immediately, realizing their error, Ceres corrected, "Oh. Oh, yeah. Yup."

Estell nodded quickly after cluing in also.

Miranda frowned in thought, "Hmmm, but-"

"What?" Ceres asked.

"I was under the impression that he and my sister Wink . . ."

"I thought that he and Leenus . . . " Emille added.

"Well, isn't he the village bicycle." Shana shot in.

Ceres grimaced, "Yeah? Yeah, well Albert loves Dart and he wears funny clothes."

* * *

AN: Hey, if you're wondering who the hell these weird people are, then you should check out my fic "The Legend of Dragoon: Essence". Anyways, this is a joint effort between myself and the best INUYASHA/GW/CHRONO CROSS (What else you got?) fanfic authoress, Aislin Oriel. There's lots more if you want it – antics ensue! – just please review so we know you want more! Thanks – k. ramsey 


	2. Volunforcement

** Drag **

_By Allusia Starkiller & Aislin Oriel_

"Yeah? Yeah, well Albert loves Dart and he wears funny clothes."

"Hey!" Estell yelled, her attention having been caught from her continuing impersonation of Lloyd as she waved her hand in the air saying "**Over. Here.**"

"They're not that bad." Shana commented, "I mean the tight-like pants could maybe go."

"Albert's clothes, Albert's clothes! Not Dart's, he's the guy with the huge nose remember?" Ceres pointed out, trying to get the girl to insult properly.

"Would you lay off on the nose?" Estell remarked dryly. "And since I know Emille won't get you back, Lloyd's wardrobe sucks too!"

"So! ALBERT LOVES DART!"

"Eehem." everyone's attention was drawn to the chamber's doors where Ellis was peering in with a somewhat terrified look on his face.

"Hey, girls only!" Estell yelled to him, she turned back to her sister, "And so what? It's not like the feeling is mutual, Lloyd's still the village bicycle."

"Um, yeah." Ellis raised his voice to get the girls attention again, "Anyone know where the other guys might be?"

"Do you see them in here anywhere?" Estell asked. She looked around with no luck to further emphasis her point.

"We've got you some manservants, but no guys. Why, did they ditch you or something?" Ceres asked.

"Uh, no. I was supposed to meet up with them at the tavern, but they never showed." Ellis answered.

"Uh-oh. Albert told you . . ." and with that comment, Ceres began to chuckle.

"Shaddup!" Estell elbowed the young woman in the ribs, "Remember Lloyd is with them! So if something's going on with Dart and Albert, Lloyd's in on it too." she pointed out.

"Erp, uh, so I'm guessing you don't know where they are?" Ellis asked. All present noted that his face was a few shades lighter then when he had first proposed this question.

"Oh for crying out loud! They went to-" Shana was swiftly quieted as both Ceres and Estell lunged at her and covered her mouth.

"Nope. Don't know a thing." Ceres smiled fakely at the startled man.

"Nahh, why don't you try the tavern again Ellis?" Estell asked.

"Thank you . . . I suppose . . ." Ellis swung his cape to face them and retreated out the door, in a rather rushed manner.

"Shana! Ya almost blew our cover! We _don't_ know where they are. Remember?" Ceres asked, before slowly removing her hand from her mouth.

Estell nodded before doing the same thing.

"But they did say that they were going to-"

"No they didn't. You're just crazy." Ceres corrected.

"Now, now, if anyone here is a lunatic, it's you two." Miranda said in a snooty tone.

"What is going on ladies?" Emille asked carefully.

"Well . . . uh, nothing?" Estell tried.

"Albert just loves Dart." Ceres put in, while she had her chance, "Just for the record."

"Of course he does, he's close to all his friends. And Dart is a good man." Emille justified.

Estell glared over at her sister as she began to burst over with laughter at Emille's not-quite-getting-it comment. "Don't. Say. Anything." she warned.

"Ha, Albert would know." Ceres stated.

"That's it!" Estell said with a final glare before hefting up a drink and tossing the contents in Ceres' direction.

Luckily, Ceres had just enough time to grab Miranda and position her in the way of the impending attack, and she took the full-force of the splash. The evidence now dripped off the tip of her nose, and had liberally coated her hair, face and front.

"Wow. That was good." Estell commented, impressed at her sisters' speed.

"Well, what can I say?" she shrugged and began to laugh at the completely angered blonde.

"Oh dear . . ." Emille covered her mouth in surprise, and to everyone else's, a soft flow of laughter began to pour from behind her hand.

"I can't (sputter) believe this!" Miranda screeched furiously.

"And yet another example of a makeover, eh Shana?" Estell asked.

"I must admit . . ." Shana nodded.

"That's twice - three times a charm!" Ceres gestured to her sister to grab another glass of the pollen, "C'mon, c'mon!" she said, grabbing Miranda again.

The drenched woman shot out of her grasp, regarded her with pure rage and then leapt upon her all the while screaming in anger. Ceres had no choice but to roll with the punches. Miranda went on furiously, and out of instinct, clutched a handful of Ceres' salt and pepper hair.

"Ash! She's a latcher! Go for the ankles!"

"Hair pulling is a two point deductible." Estell pointed out.

"Yes, but Ceres hasn't made any counterattacks yet. That's also a two point deductible." Shana added.

"Let's see some magic, I'll give five points to the first who does that." Estell remarked.

"Thirty on Miranda! Thirty on Ceres!"

Shana and Estell turned around to see Emille, glass raised, cheering on the fight and having the time of her life. Then they promptly turned back around, trying to make it go away.

"I'll take her out to the balcony for some air." Shana volunteered, avoiding the two women who were squabbling in the middle of the room (still atop manservants).

"Make sure she stays away from the rails." Estell advised and returned her attention back to the fight, "Let's see the fireworks!"

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

_The boys . . ._

"Hey, what's that?" Dart inquired, pointing to the flashes and streaks of colored light coming from one of Indel's Castle lower balconies.

Albert looked to where Dart was pointing, a frown creasing his brow, "I don't know."

"Fireworks!" Lloyd bellowed from where he sat, raising his glass in salute. "Boo. . ti-ful! Excel . . . lent!"

"Did he have to come?" Albert asked softly with a sideways glance.

"We're comrades in arms, we have to learn to get along with each other," Dart shrugged.

"Besides, we couldn't just leave him lying on the ground like that."

"Whoa, is that tower supposed to be on fire, Bert?" Albert's attention went back to Lloyd who was getting much enjoyment watching Indel's new flamish look.

". . ." Albert's frown worsened.

"Shouldn't we, uh, go see what's happening?" Dart asked.

"Damn! Show's over . . ." Lloyd grumbled/slurred disappointedly, "Didn't even get me money's worth!"

"Soa help us." Albert mumbled, burying his face in his hands.

"Who knew Winglies had no head for ale?" Dart reasoned. "At least it seems the fire's out."

Albert nodded, noting the flames had diminished to a few small clouds of smoke and smoldering castle. "Speaking of which - you don't think any of that had anything to do with the 'girls night' thing, do you?"

Dart was confused, "'Girls night'? I never heard anything about this, is this why we were all forced to um, socialize, um, together - with him." He pointed to Lloyd who looked as if he was contemplating flying away or jumping off the roof - one of the two.

"Yeah, basically. Ellis was supposed to show up too and all."

"Wonder how he got out of it." Dart said rubbing the back of his neck.

"My . . ." Lloyd prepared himself for the flighty jump, " . .leap . . .OF FAITH!" As he yelled the last two words he, he literally walked off the roof.

Dart and Albert were waiting for the inevitable loud thud but no such sound of cracking bones came. Instead, they heard the still distinct sound of, "Savior! Thank you!"

They cautiously peered over the edge, to see Lloyd, in Ellis' arms, smiling up at him like a doting idiot. "Thank you, thank you, thank you . . ." he continued enthusiastically.

"Oh for crying out-" Ellis began,

"Oh-oh." Albert began to predict what was about to transpire.

Lloyd wrapped his arms around Ellis' neck, "Dear sweet Saviour, I owe my life to you." He cooed.

Ellis looked to Lloyd, still in his arms, up to where Albert and Dart stood watching, hiding smiles behind their hands. He offered the two a grimace clearly indicating he was the one who needed a saviour. Lloyd's homage was rising in volume as he listed off the things he was grateful for, namely and especially his 'Saviour'. Ellis remembered the drunk fool he held and proceeded to drop him on his arse. Unfortunately, as Lloyd was counting off the ways he owed Ellis his life, he had also busied himself by fidgeting with the shiny buttons on the man's pettie coat. The button sprang off with fierce ferocity, resulting in the disrobing of Ellis. Unbeknownst to Ellis, the garments he had purchased were of poor quality. So there he stood, towering over Lloyd (with a hand full of buttons), and very much nude.

"Good god man, cover yourself!" Lloyd shouted, rampantly searching for something to shield his eyes with. Such protection came in the form of Ellis' ruined pettie coat.

"Great day to forget the cape, eh Ellis?" Dart called down.

Ellis, still petrified by the entire predicament, swiped his clothes from Lloyd and wrapped them around his waist as fast and as effectively as he could. The result was a makeshift toga made of forest green-chiffon material and white silk.

"Very stylish." Albert commented.

"You would know." Ellis responded.

"Alright guys, I think that we'd better get back to the Castle. Lloyd is more destructive and annoying than usual," Dart was interrupted.

"Hey, I resemble that!"

"And Ellis looks to be in need of a new wardrobe." he chuckled mildly to himself.

"Well, whatever happened back there seems to have died down, so hopefully no one's dead." Albert half-joked.

Both he and Dart made their way down to where Ellis stood and Lloyd lay sprawled on the ground.

"Let's go guys!" Lloyd piped as he hopped to his feet.

"So, how long does it take for the hangover to kick in?" Dart inquired as the three of them observed the Wingly's lack of equilibrium in action.

"C'mon," Ellis said as he grabbed Lloyd by the shoulder.

Drunken as he had never been before, he flailed rather inadvertently, whacking Ellis in the face causing him to stumble backwards into Dart and Albert. In the process of this, Lloyd grabbed hold of Ellis' sheath belt grinning mischievously . . .

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

So, there you have it, chapter two. Aislin and I own nothing save for our souls (which is pending, given the results of the next chess game between GOOD and EVIL), thus we do not own Legend of Dragoon – only the craziness that went into the plot (or lack thereof) and the OCs, ah Ellis! Review if you want to know more and find out the deeply seeded meaning of the title . . . Toodles – k. ramsey


	3. Shut up Lloyd!

** Drag **

_By Aislin Oriel & Kez Ramsey_

Back at the castle, Miranda was nursing a multitude of minor injuries in one corner of the room while in the opposite Ceres sat doing the same. Emille sauntered in rather wobbly and took a seat in the nearest chair,

"What did . . . I miss?" She asked.

"Uh . ." Estell looked around, and gestured to the remnants of the room. "Well, you won your bet . . . you also lost it too, though."

"Ah, damn." The Queen looked distraught by the news, then just as quickly perked right up, "Oh well, who's up for another round of nectar?"

Estell cringed and Ceres groaned from her corner. Emille turned her sights to Miranda who as politely as she could, dismissed the offer for more moping.

"Well, then I guess it's all the more for me and you Shana. Shana?" Emille swung around, in her stupor and found no Shana where she once was, on the balcony.

Faintly, a small voice could be heard from that direction, "Help guys . . ."

"I hear voices!" Emille whispered back.

"No, really . . . I'm losing my strength . . ."

Estell groaned. "Oh please,"

"I'm getting weak, I'm going to fall! . . ."

Emille suddenly looked very reminiscent of a paranoid conspiracy theorist. Her eyes closed to become tight slits while her expression turned cold and calculating. "What is it you want? Are you here to overthrow me, steal Albert for your own?" she demanded, still whispering.

Estell chuckled to herself while Miranda and Ceres shared grimaces.

"Guys, this is serious . . . please . . . I don't want to die."

Miranda rolled her eyes and began the tedious task of picking herself up.

"Well, in such a case, there is only one thing I can do - " Estell declared, "I'll go get Dart and he can save you just like always." She stalked out the door, letting out a sigh of relief as she escaped the pandemonium of the 'girls night'.

'Ha ha, now I'm safe from that horrid nectar and no longer have to put up with that little snot.' Estell thought to herself as she headed out into the hallway. She vaguely felt some guilt for leaving Ceres behind, but quickly overcame that when an idea popped into her head.

"Maybe I should go find Ellis, he did seem quite lost earlier. The poor bloke has no sense of direction." It was quite true; he could be wandering around the village all day looking for the tavern, and end up at some remote house on the outskirts of Bale.

So, as a result of logical deduction, she decided the best course of action would be to start looking for some remote house on the outskirts of Bale. Estell wandered outside into the dimly lit atmosphere and got her bearings, trying to figure out just where the most remote location would be.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

. . . the belt, that usually kept his sword at his side, was the only thing keeping the mock-up toga on. Ellis' face contorted into a horrified, yet gaunt expression as Lloyd, grasped hold of it and flew upwards far out of reach. Inevitably, Ellis fell backwards on top of Albert and Dart, his garments sprawled everywhere except on him. (Save for a shred of the damned pettie coat that floated rather like a feather downwards, landing on part of Ellis that already had had too much public exposure in one night.)

Everyone scrambled to get away from the crash site but the silk blouse and a sudden scream of horror caused all to slip, slide and tumble rather unceremoniously into one large heap of masculinity, limping dignity and skin.

"You have GOT to be kidding me!" Estell yelled in outrage, "All this time I defended you, you, you, you SWINE!"

"What are you alls doin'?" Lloyd wondered, just for the sake of wondering.

The pile-o-men tried to collectively scramble to their feet, and away from each other, but that action instead resulted in the exact opposite occurrence. In the midst of the chaos, they became more like a human pretzel, made of clothes, lack of clothes and very perturbed guys.

"Oh my god . . ." Estell continued, running her hand across her brow exasperatedly. She turned so that she no longer faced the sight she had seen too many times in her nightmares. "I can't believe I lost the bet . . . " She did a 180 and pointed ferociously at Lloyd, "And you! Why not you! Why the hell not! Of all the things Ceres had to be right about . . ."

Lloyd was too busy giggling like a schoolgirl to notice.

"What bet?" Dart asked very curiously as he tried his best to escape the entanglement of comrades.

Lloyd suddenly hiccupped. "Mooo." He began giggling again.

"I get it." Estell turned back to the three men, "You gave him alcohol, didn't you? Din't you? Knowing very well we can't have it - you just wanted him out of the way so that you could - ah! I can't even say it! Pigs! Pigs, all of you!"

"Oink." Lloyd added.

"How . . . did this happen?" Albert asked from the bottom of the dog pile.

"No talking! You are a barn animal! Animals don't talk!" Estell shouted in anger.

"Now now -" Albert shut up as a dagger was hurled his way.

"And you!" Estell stormed over to the side of the supposed orgy, and glared disapprovingly at Ellis, avoiding the non-clothed portions, "You're like a brother to me! How could you do this - I mean I kind of suspected you were, well you know - but why would you go after my man!" she practically spat the last words.

"What?" Dart raised a clueless eyebrow.

"Oh, you'll get your turn! Just you wait." Her angry amber eyes flared at him.

"I'm afraid this is all a big mistake . . ." Ellis attempted to explain.

"Oh, you say that now. Trying to cover your ass as always huh Ellisandera? Whell, I'm not buying it. You can say it was a big mistake but you can't take back your actions!" she roared.

"Actions?" Dart queried. He took a gander at Ellis, then noted the precarious predicament, as he lay a little too close to his over-exposed comrade. "What actions?" He asked again, this time sounding more suspicious as he craned his neck away from Ellis' body. He chuckled out of nowhere and then turned to him again, "Your name is Ellisandera?"

Estell plucked Dart up from where he lay by the shoulders, "Over there, now!" she instructed. "You," she cast a finger in Ellis' direction, "get some damn clothes on!"

"The second time today, any other time it might be a good thing."

"Enough comments from you Al," Ellis remarked as he sat up and began to gather what was left of his sub-quality garments.

Estell marched over to where Dart stood, looking like someone waiting for his turn on the chopping block.

"Dart. Feld." she uttered bitterly, waiting for his excuse.

"Well, you see . . . um, it was just that -"

Estell suddenly, becoming bored with his voice, wreathed in flames, and swung around in one abrupt movement. She pulled her one dagger from the pebbly ground, which it was currently embedded in, and turned back around to face him.

"Ah! No, please, don't! I, I can explain Estell, please!" Dart cowered behind his own hands.

By that time, she had already sheathed it opposite her other one and walked off in an angry silence.

"I should get you naked more often," Lloyd bellowed from where he still hung suspended by his wings, in the air.

An abundance of convenience-projectiles came flying at him from three directions simultaneously. The buttons and belt fell from his hands as he tried to protect himself, sending them raining down on Ellis, Dart and Albert.

"Shut up, Lloyd!" Estell yelled from the distance.

"This is all your fault!" Ellis leapt up, clutching at his torn rags, draping them around him haphazardly.

"Whadda ya mean?" Lloyd questioned.

"Are you aware of what that Wingly can and will do to us?" Ellis began trying to swipe a hold of one of Lloyd's dangling feet to get his revenge.

"To you my good sir, to you . . ." Lloyd corrected, and did a hovering half-bow.

"Why you!" Ellis fumed, "Get down here you coward! Flying isn't fair!"

"I can fly?" Lloyd looked around and noted his whereabouts, "Hey, I can fly!" He paused, "Then why did I fall off that roof?"

"For crying out loud . . ." Albert began, standing up and dusting himself off.

"You lied to me!" Lloyd shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Ellis who was still busy trying to devise a way to get him down.

"We have to get back to the castle before Estell does - what she thinks - she'll tell the entire city!" Albert said frantically.

Ellis and Albert looked to Dart for direction. There he sat in the dirt, brooding as he idly traced the sand with his hand.

"Deceiver!" Lloyd cried, breaking the awkward silence, "Anti-Savior!"

"Will you all get yourselves together!" Albert ordered, taking charge of the situation. "Dart, you're our leader, take some initiative."

"Initiative? What's the use?" Dart mumbled. Suddenly, as a thought hit him, he looked up to where Lloyd hovered in the air, "This is all because of you!" He stood and walked closer, "Even drunk you're still an asshole, Lloyd. It was an idiot's mistake, my mistake, to think you could ever be one of us!"

Ellis, as comical as he found the present situation to be, spoke in a serious tone, "Dart, calm down."

"Little violins are playing for you." Lloyd sang in mock-sympathy, while motioning to play an air-violin.

"Lloyd, shut your mouth." Albert commanded authoritatively. He took out his javelin and hooked it in Lloyd's belt, tugging it to pull him down.

Dart lunged as the Wingly slowly descended. Ellis intercepted the attack and caught a hold of Dart. The man struggled against the other, "Let me go! Ellis, I'm warning you!" Dart exclaimed furiously.

"He's not worth it." Albert offered as he finally brought Lloyd to the ground.

"Hey, mind who you speak of - you two-bit excuse for a monarch." The Wingly shot back, regaining some of his natural demeanor.

"You stay out of this before I fry you myself!" Ellis ordered.

Lloyd raised a defiant eyebrow but remained quiet.

Dart suddenly sprang forward, Ellis having been distracted. He shoved passed him and dived into Lloyd in a fit of rage. Albert dropped his javelin and pulled his friend off the Wingly.

"Dart, composure." Albert instructed, stern yet kindly.

"How uncouth." Lloyd gave a mocking glance at Dart and began snickering.

Dart gave a slight growl as he charged Lloyd yet again.

"Hold it there." Ellis grabbed him by the scruff of the shirt, and swung Dart beside him. Dart huffed and looked indignant.

"Last I checked, I was the drunken one. Yet I see I'm not the most easily excitable." Lloyd continued to taunt.

"You'd better sober up soon or you'll have no chance in hell when we let him at you." Ellis warned and pushed Lloyd over to Albert.

"Now let's get going." Albert insisted, trying to sway everyone's attention before another fight broke out.

"We know Estell's okay, so that probably means that either she and/or Ceres are responsible for the smouldering appearance of the castle." Ellis commented.

"Yes," Albert paused in thought, "that sounds reasonable."

"Well. c'mon then." Ellis hauled Dart forward and in front of him as they all started off. Dart mumbled something.

"Don't make me put you in a headlock."

"Let's see you try."

"This one's ever-confrontational." Lloyd bellowed.

"Direct it toward the right individual, Dart;" Albert suggested, "Once we get back to the castle, you can throttle him all you like. Just save it till then."

Dart huffed, but went along with Ellis persuading him forward.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

Well, due to an intergalatic incident and a bi-polar ref, the chess game resulted in a draw. So, Aislin and I still own our souls, but not much else. Just lovable Ellisendera . . . Anyways, please review and thanks for taking a gander. Cheers – k.ramsey


	4. One of Those Nights

**Drag **

_By Allusia Starkiller & Aislin Oriel_

Estell stormed back into the room where Ceres and Miranda resided, both still slightly singed and glaring at each other.

"You guys are not going to believe this!" she announced. This drew Ceres' attention, and Miranda lifted her head off of the wall where it was resting.

"Huh?" Ceres prompted.

"Wait, where's Emille, I want you ALL to hear this." Estell walked onto the balcony where Shana was still dangling, but the queen was nowhere in sight.

"Help . . ." Shana called weakly.

"Where did Queen Emille go?" Estell asked.

"She went to go find some more manservants . . . something about redecorating." Ceres called out to her.

"Oh well, I guess she'll find out later;" the enraged Wingly looked over the edge of the balcony, and spoke to Shana.

"Well, I suppose you'd like to know where your faithful rescuer is?" she rested her elbow on the rail, and her chin in her hand.

"Dart . . . ? Dart, are you here to save me?" the girl called in a faint voice, hinted with hope.

"When I found him, he was too busy to help;" she replied, trying to draw out the conclusion. She raised her voice for the next statement, "Too preoccupied with ALBERT and ELLIS to help!"

"Oh nooo . . . " with the startling pitch in Estell's voice, Shana let go of the ledge and fell two feet into a rosebush.

"Yeah," Estell sighed, getting angrier as she retold the story, marching back inside.

Inside Ceres and Miranda sat trying not to look like they had been eavesdropping.

"Did you hear?"

"Hear what? No I'm casual." Ceres stated, while Miranda kept silent and looked away, avoiding Estell's ambery gaze. "Okay, so I might have heard the names Albert and Ellis – waitaminute . . . what did you say?"

"Well, I tried to say it loud enough for EVERYONE to hear it. So you can stop pretending you didn't. It's true. Damn it Ceres, why did you have to be right!" Estell stomped over to her sister's corner, pointing an accusing finger in her direction.

"I . . . I was? Oh no." Ceres looked disturbed.

"Are you sure you know what was happening?" Miranda inquired.

"Are you questioning my intelligence? Do you think that I'm just that stupid to not know what was happening!" she snarled at Miranda, "When Ellis was laying in natural condition atop of Albert and Dart who were practically embracing one another? What would you call that?"

"Um, I'd rather not." the blonde concluded, trying to get the image out of her head.

"Oh no . . ." Ceres frowned. The possibilities were dancing through her head like Lloyd after drinking.

"Don't worry. I was wrong. Lloyd wasn't in on it." Estell said bitterly.

"Oh, thank Soa." Ceres clutched her hand to her chest, then after seeing her sister's expression, quickly added, "I mean damn?"

"Spare us your impressive display of theatrics." Miranda commented.

Estell grumbled something unintelligible. Her eyes shone cold fury.

Ceres took a step back. Then, as everything fell together she muttered a final, "Oh nooo…" and sat down on the floor blindly.

Miranda began raging on about the predicament, "Can you be so sure? That is inexcusable behaviour . . ."

"It cannot be . . ." came Shana's thought on the matter.

After a series of 'oh nooo . . .'s, commotion could be heard in the hallway.

"It's them." Estell growled. "I'm outta here." She disappeared as she leapt off the balcony and flew off.

The disgraced men clamored into the room in different versions of desperation. Albert's was a spirited pursuit to protect his royal reputation and respect amongst his people. Lloyd's was to flee from the grasp of anyone who wished him harm (which was everyone more or less), Dart's was to convince Estell of what actually happened or kill Lloyd, and Ellis' was to primarily obtain a new change of clothing.

Awkward silence came from nowhere to fill the room as the group burst through the doors rather anti-dramatically. The customary cricket chirped in for such a moment. The four men were met with looks of utter disgust. Miranda stared at them with a hard, uncompromising yet vacant glare, while Ceres' lip curled up slightly.

"I suppose she has already got to you. We can explain." Albert began, stepping forward.

"No need. What goes on –" Ceres stopped herself, "I mean, we don't want to know. However, I think Estell would be interested to. If you can get in close enough and she doesn't kill you first."

"Where . . . ?" Dart began, but Ceres motioned out onto the balcony, and then pointed a bit higher to indicate that she left. "I can't fly."

"I can." Lloyd pointed out. At the many a warning glare, he quickly retreated to a safe distance behind Ceres where he used her as a shield.

"Well, that's great. The only person here who can fly is Lloyd." Ellis commented, flinging his arms in the air.

"Um, what may I ask happened to your clothes?" Miranda asked a little reluctantly.

Albert was standing behind Ellis, holding his tattered rags. Gravity was threatening to cruelly assault everyone's eyes.

"My god man! Not here! Your wife is due to be back at any moment!" Ceres hollered in aversion, as she turned from the scene.

Ellis quickly got hold of his wayward garments, taking them back from Albert. "Ceres! This – that is not – would you let us explain!"

"I think they've done enough already," Lloyd said, gripping Ceres' shoulders and talking to her as he rest his head on her shoulder.

"Have you been drinking?"

"They did it." Ellis pointed to Albert who in turn put his hands up in defense.

"I, I, –"

"Shut up! Ceres go get your sister!" Dart commanded.

"I wouldn't advise that. Unless of course good ol' Al doesn't mind his castle becoming a worse disarray of rubble than this . . ." Ceres motioned around the room.

"Just let her go cool off and blow off some steam." Miranda suggested.

"That's what we're afraid of; she will cool off by spreading this rumour around the entire village!" Albert exclaimed.

"But you don't understand. Estell doesn't 'cool off', she only gets angrier. If you don't bring her back now, she'll destroy the entire village with more than just a rumour." Dart exaggerated, as was his style.

"Rumour?" Ceres raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back. I need clothes." Ellis hurried off into the hallway.

"My castle!" Albert shouted, having finally noticed the havoc of the room. "What happened?"

"Uh…" Miranda tried.

"Huh, rumour. You horny little idiopathic twerps just couldn't wait to be alone." Ceres muttered. She turned to face Lloyd, "And you gave him mead, I can still smell it on him." Her nose scrunched up, "Eww."

"Hey, Shana, what are you doing down there?" Dart asked off-handedly, as he stepped out onto the balcony trying to catch a sight of Estell.

"Oh . . . Dart! Finally! I thought you'd never come to save me . . . that horrible woman told me she was going to get you, but then she made me fall down here when she came back yelling . . . Oh Dart, I think I broke something . . ." she whimpered, trying to evoke some sort of sympathy from him.

"Oh yeah, really?" Dart mumbled disinterestedly, trying to see as far off into the distance of the night sky as he could.

". . ." Shana waited during the long pause while Dart tried to find something, ". . . um Dart?" she called up to him.

"What?" he asked, not intending to answer her.

"Are you looking for something to lower down to me?" Shana inquired.

"No."

"Then aren't you going to save me? I'm in great pain!" she cried.

"Huh." Dart responded simply before hurrying back inside, to find that Emille had returned after fetching her manservants, and figured that one of them would aid to Shana's accident.

Emille was busy pointing every which direction as the manservants scurried about, attempting to comply with all her orders at once.

"Dart . . . Dart . . . come . . . back . . ." Shana called after him.

"So what're you all doing standing around here?" Dart demanded as he re-entered the room. "We've got an awry Wingly to catch!"

"Hey! Who you calling awry? I'm not taking orders from you!"

"Shut up Lloyd." Ceres voiced the popular phrase of the day.

"No one asked you." Albert said. He joined Dart where he stood, "I think we can leave the drunk here." He suggested.

Ceres jumped to Lloyd's defense, despite telling him to shut up not two minutes earlier. "Hey, he's no drunk!" she turned to Ellis who was walking in the door and pointed her finger at him.

Ellis put his hands up, "Ah, what'd I do?"

"You should have known better than to let him have alcohol!"

"Wait a minute!" Ellis defended himself, and his new spiffy duds, "I didn't let him have any drink! I was never even at the tavern. I had to trade in my cape for directions, but then I got lost anyway and ended up out of pure luck, or perhaps bad luck, finding the rest of the lot atop the roof of some house! And Lloyd was in said state when I arrived." He finished, quite satisfied.

"Who cares how he became inebriated. It was no one's fault but his own. You mightn't be defending him Ceres, if you knew that, out of his own free will, he was practically absconding a barmaid at the tavern and had us all removed." Albert spoke up.

Ceres whirled on her heel to glare at Lloyd, who was enjoying all the attention he was getting. "Is this true?" she demanded of him.

"Is what true?"

"Don't play dumb you drunken barmaid-absconding excuse for a scumbag!"

"Oh . . . that." He chuckled to himself, causing Ceres to look as if she were about to erupt.

"Can we get back to the matter at hand?" Dart asked in exasperation. When no one answered, too caught up in the little scene between the Winglies, he casually walked back to the balcony, hopped down to the ground, and went off by himself to look for Estell.

Albert noticed this out of the corner of his eye and followed, leaving Miranda and Ellis still enthralled by Ceres and Lloyd's predicament.

"Hey, wait up!" Albert called to the fast paced Dart.

"Well at least someone is going to help me look." Dart said half-graciously as he slowed down to wait.

§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§§

AN: So, I apologize. Due to technical difficulties (server went down!) I was unable to keep up my end of the bargain. (Damn you sympatico!) Fortunately, that left me with a lot of time to work on my stories. Thus, I'm able to update just about every active fic I have online at the moment so here's to it. Thanks for reading this crazy thing, please review! Cheers!.-k.ramsey


End file.
